Fiber-optic transmission lines are often used to communicate signals in electronic systems due to the generally higher noise immunity, greater signal bandwidth, and lower signal attenuation properties obtainable in such lines. Fiber-optic transmission lines are also generally thinner and lighter than metallic conductors of comparable capacity. Accordingly, fiber optic transmission lines are widely used in telecommunications, as well as in other related areas.
In selected fiber optic systems, it is desirable to permit a single fiber optic input line to be coupled to a plurality of fiber optic output lines, so that a signal transmitted on the fiber optic input line may be simultaneously accessed by fiber optic devices coupled to each of the fiber optic output lines. For example, in local area network (LAN) systems using a star network topology or a bus topology, optical signals must be subdivided and communicated from a main computer to a plurality of computer nodes. Accordingly, fiber optic splitters that are configured to divide an input signal into a plurality of output signals are available to provide the output signals to each of the nodes.
In one known fiber optic splitter, coupling between the fiber optic input line and the plurality of fiber optic output lines is formed by intertwining end portions of the fiber optic output lines around an end portion of the fiber optic input fiber, and thermally fusing the respective end portions together to form a signal mixing region. Although the foregoing fabrication method is relatively simple to implement, considerable difficulty may be encountered in fabricating fiber optic splitters having a consistent level of performance. For example, since the length of the signal mixing region depends upon the amount of twisting and pulling of the fibers that occurs during the thermal fusion process, considerable variation may be introduced into the splitter during fabrication, which may result in high scrap rates, and thus increase the overall cost per unit for the splitter.
There is therefore a need for fiber optic systems and methods that overcome the disadvantages of prior art systems. In particular, there is a need for a fiber optic splitter that avoids the shortcomings of prior art fiber optic splitters.